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ArchivesRe: walsh
in reply to a message by Sean Foglai
As far as I can see “walsh” or “welsh” does not have the original meaning “foreigner”. T.F.Hoad (Oxford Concise Dictionary of English Etymology, 1996) says: “of unknown origin”, and so do all the other dictionaries of (German) etymology, I could get hold of, including Grimm’s “Deutsches Wörterbuch”.
The name obviously goes back to the Celtic tribe of the “Volcae”, mentioned be Caesar in his “De Bello Gallico”. On the continent the term meant (and still means) “Romanic”, that is of French, Spanish or (especially) Italian origin (and hence dark appearance and youneverknowwhatelse). It looks like that the word took the meaning “foreigner” (as well as “slave”) in Britain, but it was originally used to denote the Celtic population of the Cymrs. “Welsch” does have a slightly negative connotation in German and has been used as a synonyme for “foreign”,
The name obviously goes back to the Celtic tribe of the “Volcae”, mentioned be Caesar in his “De Bello Gallico”. On the continent the term meant (and still means) “Romanic”, that is of French, Spanish or (especially) Italian origin (and hence dark appearance and youneverknowwhatelse). It looks like that the word took the meaning “foreigner” (as well as “slave”) in Britain, but it was originally used to denote the Celtic population of the Cymrs. “Welsch” does have a slightly negative connotation in German and has been used as a synonyme for “foreign”,
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